Comments on: FOI and the "Unprecedented " Resignation of British Speakerhttp://climateaudit.org/2009/05/21/foi-and-the-unprecedented-resignation-of-british-speaker/
by Steve McIntyreSun, 02 Aug 2015 19:00:38 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.com/By: Tony Brownhttp://climateaudit.org/2009/05/21/foi-and-the-unprecedented-resignation-of-british-speaker/#comment-183923
Wed, 27 May 2009 22:01:09 +0000http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=6040#comment-183923Just to show we retain a sense of humour here are 19 cartoons regarding the expenses row courtesy of Matt of the Telegraph

We have a considerable amount of evidence in respect to Dr Mitchell. Had Mitchell been diligent as a Review Editor, he could have produced documentation on how he discharged his duties, including his correspondence on the controversial hockey stick section (which he acknowledged as a problem).

He’s not only refused but has gone to extraordinary lengths to avoid disclosing his comments as IPCC Review Editor, which have been withheld in breach of IPCC openness policies.

First he said that he had destroyed all his email correspondence as IPCC Review Editor- I don’t believe this. I do not believe that a Hadley Center executive would destroy his correspondence or that Hadley Center wouldn’t have backup in any event.

Then he untruthfully said that he had acted as IPCC Review Editor in a “personal” capacity and therefore didn’t have to disclose his comments to FOI. But upon FOI request, it turned out that he had been paid to attend meetings and been reimbursed for his expenses. So this was untrue as well.

So they found a new excuse to withhold the Review Comments. It might interfere with relations with an international organization – IPCC. But IPCC policies state that comments are to be public.

My criticism of Mitchell is not made casually or without considerable circumstantial evidence. If he produces his Review Editor comments and they demonstrate that he was diligent in his discharge of his duties, then I’ll withdraw the remarks. Right now, it appears that he was little more than an extra wheel.

]]>By: haroldhttp://climateaudit.org/2009/05/21/foi-and-the-unprecedented-resignation-of-british-speaker/#comment-183918
Tue, 26 May 2009 12:58:37 +0000http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=6040#comment-183918It’s good to see that FOI requests are giving a real boost to Investigative Journalism. And it is funny to see how a modest FOI request by Heather Brooke in 2003 is playing out. Last summer there was a storm in a teacup about MEP expenses, a clip of MEP’s signing the attendance registry at 07.00 to get their 284 euro fee:
]]>By: Pierre Gosselinhttp://climateaudit.org/2009/05/21/foi-and-the-unprecedented-resignation-of-british-speaker/#comment-183917
Tue, 26 May 2009 08:25:32 +0000http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=6040#comment-183917It gets even better…http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2448374/MEPs-massive-expenses-revealed-by-Sun.html
]]>By: slownewsdayhttp://climateaudit.org/2009/05/21/foi-and-the-unprecedented-resignation-of-british-speaker/#comment-183916
Tue, 26 May 2009 05:51:47 +0000http://www.climateaudit.org/?p=6040#comment-183916“thereby showing (what I believe to be) an almost complete casualness to discharging any obligations as a Review Editor other than swanning off to IPCC destinations.”

Nasty little bitch, aren’t you. You don’t like that? Don’t be one. You have a vivid imagination, and show no compunction in using to to denigrate people when you have no actual evidence of anything.

In 1971 the Heath government was pressured to raise MP’s salaries at a time when the rest of the country were tightening their belts. Since he was politically unable to up their wages, he introduced a very generous expenses regime, and indicated (internally) that this should be taken in liew of a pay rise. Over the years the MPs expenses have become so much a part of their remuneration that the Fees Office will work with each MP to ensure that they claim the maximum possible, and will draw attention to any area where the MP might be not claiming as much as they could. This is why MPs are providing these juicy quotes along the lines of ‘fiddling my expenses is my right’ which we are all enjoying so much…